Rock ‘n’ Radio illustrates that Montreal was at the epicentre of the rock radio revolution in Canada, eventually attracting talented DJs from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Their personal stories and the inevitable collision with the power of alternative FM rock radio in the late 60s take the reader through some of the best rock music recorded and the social changes that percolated in the background.

The period 1926 to 1949 can be considered the Golden Age of radio when it was the hearth of the North American family. Much to everyone's surprise, it survived the incursion of television to live another Golden Age—the 1960s and 1970s when rock 'n' roll music seeped its way onto mainstream radio, pushing aside Perry Como and the Dorsey Brothers for Elvis and The Beatles.

The new golden era of radio spawned what would eventually be called Top 40 AM radio, whose premise was built on the philosophy: play all the hits, then play them again. Pioneer Top 40 DJs like Alan Freed in the U.S., widely recognized as the man who coined the phrase "rock 'n' roll," spawned a new breed of radio personalities—the fast-talking salesman who delivered the goods. Hundreds of radio stations in North American gave up their entire programming day over to rock music. And with that came a legion of young, hungry Top 40 DJs such as Dave Boxer, Ralph Lockwood and Doug Pringle, looking for jobs at stations across Canada.

A legend of 19th century French Canadian poetry, Émile Nelligan was only 16 when he fell under the influence of Baudelaire and Rimbaud and began writing taut, confidently surrealistic poems, shot through self-lacerating melancholy. Three years later, when a mental collapse led to his life-long institutionalization in 1899, he had already produced an impressive body of work. Translating Nelligan’s “essential” poems, along with a sharp introduction contextualizing his legacy as one of the “first poets to write openly about suicide, neurosis, and psychological breakdown,” Marc di Saverio has given us a rivetingly fresh version of Nelligan for a new generation.

When heroin-addicted call girl Elizabeth Lucy dies in a fall from a swanky penthouse terrace, homicide detective Henderson is assigned to the case. Was it murder? Suicide? Through his investigation, Henderson uncovers a frightening underworld that is far more dark and dangerous than those of prostitution and the drug trade. But more than anything, this is Elizabeth’s story. Told through flashbacks and those who knew her, revelations unfold, revealing a life that ends with a struggle unlike any other.

A masterful debut, The Pyx has earned considerable praise in Canada and abroad. It served as the basis of the feature film of the same name starring Karen Black and Christopher Plummer.

The Pyx was first published by in 1959 by Farrar, Straus & Cudahy. For three decades, it enjoyed numerous translations and editions before going out of print in the early ‘nineties. This Ricochet Books edition marks the first in a quarter-century.

People don’t leave the Point, even if they move far away. Or at least that’s how it seems to journalist Kathy Dobson. Growing up in the 1970s in Point St. Charles, an industrial slum in Montreal, she sees how people get trapped in the neighbourhood. In this sequel to the highly praised, With a Closed Fist, Dobson shares her journey of trying to escape from what was once described as the toughest neighbourhood in Canada. Kathy and her five sisters, raised by their single mother, deal with slum landlords, “pervy uncles,” and their father—a mostly absent police officer who does occasional work on the side for the local mob. As Kathy grows up and starts attending college outside the Point, she has to learn how to survive in a new environment where problems aren’t solved by a good punch to the head.

Shifting across three countries, The Deserters explores themes of trust, isolation, abandonment, and emotional disconnection in a world dramatically altered by the experience of war. Eugenie is trying—and
mostly failing—to restore an inherited old farm in New Brunswick while her husband, a master carpenter, is away in Spain. The work involved overwhelms her, so she hires Dean to help bring the farm back to working order. But Dean is a deserter from the us Army suffering PTSD, and he is using the untamed backwoods of her property to hide out from immigration officials. As Eugenie and Dean fall into a relationship, he is tormented by flashbacks, nightmares, and flickering memories of his wartime
experiences in Iraq. And then Eugenie’s husband returns.

On In the Shadows:“Kindellan-Sheehan returns with another fast-paced, don’t-think-you’re-going-to-put-it-down-just-yet mystery. The quick tempo of the narrative is rivalled only by the author’s ability to both celebrate and condemn her characters’ flaws. You will be riveted by the ending!” --Brenda O’Farrell, Montreal Gazette

THATS A LOT OF CANDLES!
We're on the eve of our 45th anniversary. The publishing landscape has changed substantially since we began printing in the back of an artist-run gallery in downtown Montreal in 1973. Older, and perhaps wiser, we've changed too, but our commitment to Canadian writers and writing has remained constant. We have special events and promotions planned for next year. Stay
tuned!

D.G. Jones
Poet-teacher-literary translator D.G. Jones has died at 87. Twice winner of the Governor General’s Literary Prize, and of other prizes, he was a formidable poet and pioneered the translation of Québec poetry.
In 2009 we were privileged to publish his collected poems, The Stream Exposed with All Its Stones.

Paul Bley
1932-2016
We are saddened by the January 3 passing of renowned jazz pianist Paul Bley, at 83. Born in Montreal he played and recorded with Lester Young, Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Paul Motian, Pat Metheny and many others. We were proud to publish his memoir Stopping Time: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz and Paul Bley: The Logic of Chance by Arrigo Cappelletti.Niko
Dimitri Nasrallah’s novel, Niko, makes the CBC Canada Reads Longlist.

Véhicule Press acknowledges the generous support of its publishing program from the Book Publishing Industry Development Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, The Canada Council for the Arts, and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles du Québec (SODEC).